(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil was little changed Friday morning amid weak retail sales data from German and soft manufacturing reading from China.
China's manufacturing sector contracted for a third consecutive month in September. The final HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index was unchanged at 49.9 in September. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in the sector.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for November delivery, edged down $0.28 to $81.86 a barrel. Yesterday, oil ended marginally higher amid positive economic data from the U.S. While jobless claims fell much more than expected last week, the U.S. economy grew more than initially reported in the second quarter.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was hovering near its 8-month high versus the euro and 9-month high against sterling. The buck was trading flat versus the Swiss franc and the yen.
In economic news from the euro zone, annual inflation increased unexpectedly in September, flash estimate from Eurostat showed. Annual inflation rose to 3 percent from 2.5 percent in August. Economists were expecting the annual rate to remain unchanged at 2.5 percent.
A separate report from Eurostat revealed that unemployment rate in the region held steady at 10 percent in August, for a third successive month.
Meanwhile, retail sales in Germany declined more than expected by economists in August, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. Sales fell 2.9 percent month-on-month in August, following a 0.3 percent rise in July and 4 percent increase in June. Economists expected a 0.5 percent slump in sales from July.
Traders will look to the Commerce Department's report on personal income & outlays for August, due out at 8:30 a.m. ET . Economists expect personal income to rise 0.1 percent and personal spending to increase 0.2 percent.
Later during the session, the results of the Institute of Supply Management-Chicago's business survey for September are due out. Economists expect the business barometer index based on the survey to ease to 55.4.
